1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a reciprocating electric shaver including plural blade cassettes arranged in parallel to be independently movable with respect to a main body of the shaver.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the present application, priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 is requested based on Japanese Patent Application No. 9-218,269, filed Jul. 28, 1997, entitled "Reciprocating Electric Shaver". The contents of that application are incorporated herein by reference.
A reciprocating electric shaver is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (kokai) 8-323,063, entitled "Electric Shaver". The contents of that application are incorporated herein by reference. In this shaver, each of blade cassettes includes an outer blade and an outer blade frame to which the outer blade is attached. Plural blade cassettes are arranged substantially in parallel to be movable with respect to a main body of the shaver in order to improve the shaving efficiency by fully contacting each of the outer blades with skin. In this shaver, the blade cassettes are arranged inside a periphery of a retainer via which the blade cassettes are attached to the main body.
In this shaver, the strength of the shaver against outside force is improved since the blade cassettes are protected by the retainer. However, upon shaving while looking at a mirror, the floating situation of each of the blade cassettes cannot be checked since the blade cassettes are covered by the retainer. Accordingly, the position of the shaver cannot be adjusted such that each of the outer blades of the blade cassettes is properly in contact with skin.
On the other hand, if the blades cassettes are attached to the retainer to cover the retainer, the floating situation of each of the blade cassettes can be easily checked. However, in the shaver in which the plural blade cassettes are arranged in parallel, each of the plural blade cassettes cannot cover the entire periphery of the retainer. Accordingly, when force is applied to the blades cassettes outwardly to remove the blade cassettes from the retainer, the blade cassettes are easily removed from the retainer. Such a force is always applied to the plural blade cassettes while shaving.